Answers

Shoppers avoiding Y2K rush
By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
Sunday News Staff
Exactly five months from today, New Hampshire will wake up to find
out
whether all those predictions of doom collectively summed up as the
"Y2K Bug"
have come to pass, or were nothing more than a kind of mass paranoia.
Plenty of Granite Staters apparently are taking the Y2K threat
seriously.
Retailers report doing a brisk business this summer in commodities
that will
become precious as gold should skeptics' worst fears come to pass.
Generators, flashlights, batteries, woodstoves, bottled water and
ready-to-eat
food items are already among some of the hottest-selling items, and
most predict
sales will pick up even more this fall.
Heather Makere, owner of Mickey Finn's Army/Navy in Manchester, is
having
a special banner made, designating her store as "Y2K Headquarters,"
to attract
customers. "I don't mean to take advantage of people's fears, I
guess, but I'd be
a fool not to do this, because people are looking for this stuff,"
she said.
Makere already has had numerous customers stocking up, most buying
freeze-dried food, flashlights, sleeping bags, even military chemical
suits.
"It looks like a camouflage jacket and pants, but they are treated
on the inside,"
she explained. "That's what you would wear in case of a gas attack,
but these are
also really warm and they're cheap, and that's what people are buying
them for."
Shane Duquette, manager at Abundant Life in Chichester, said
woodstove
manufacturers report sales this year are up 200 percent "right across
the U.S."
He said woodstove sales at his store have been "cranking" even
during these
normally slow summer months. "Usually we're sitting around here
twiddling our
thumbs, but this year it's been pretty steady."
Duquette said Y2K is only part of it; also contributing to it are
the violent
storms New Hampshire has experienced recently that have left many
without
power. "I think it's part Y2K and part the weird weather we've been
having up
here," he said.
Whatever the cause, Duquette isn't complaining. "I think this is
going to be a
good year for the woodstove and wood companies."
It's also a super year for anyone selling generators. Several big
retailers are
selling out stock as quickly as they can get them in.
Nault's Honda in Manchester has been selling on average seven
generators a
week, according to Paul Nault, the son of owner Dick Nault.
Like Duquette, Nault believes there's more to the "phenomenal"
sales than
simply Y2K fears. "It has a lot to do with the storms we've had this
summer, the
wind storms we've had, the thunderstorms, people losing their power.
And I'm
sure Y2K has contributed to it," he said.
Nault planned ahead in anticipation of Y2K sales, and expects to
have plenty of
generators for its customers. "I placed my order a year and a half
ago," he said.
The company will hold a Generator Open House on Oct. 23, and he
anticipates
a lot of business that day. He's already fielding about 30 calls a
day, and has
decided to videotape his own home's generator setup to save himself
having to
explain the same thing over and over to customers. "That's how many
people are
coming in," he said.
Most homeowners want to keep their well pump, heating system,
refrigerator
and freezer, and other key appliances going in the event of a power
outage,
Nault said. His company sells Honda generators priced from $1,200 to
$2,700,
depending on how much power is needed.
Using a generator to power a home's electrical circuits isn't as
simple as buying
one and plugging it in somewhere. Homeowners also will need something
called
a "transfer switch box," Nault explained, which needs to be installed
by a
licensed electrician.
"That way it won't overload your circuit panel, and won't overload
your
generator, and most importantly, it won't hurt any linemen that are
up there on
the pole," he said.
Indeed, local power companies want to know about it if any of their
customers
have generators. Public Service Company of New Hampshire's website
(www.psnh.com) has special instructions about safe installation of
generators;
you can also call PSNH at 634-2312.
But Martin Murray, spokesman for PSNH, said the power company is
not
recommending people purchase generators. "One of our observations,
and
indeed our concerns, would be that people may do things because of
their fear of
Y2K that are really unnecessary."
"What we are advising customers is that they should treat next New
Year's Eve
and Y2K as they do any day of the year," he said. And that means
being
prepared as they would for any New England winter, he said.
"We have ice storms, we have snowstorms, or sometimes a vehicle
accident
that could knock power out. We advise people every storm season it's
a smart
move to have extra batteries on hand, and a supply of water on hand."
"We don't expect any power outages associated with Y2K, but if
there are any,
we'll be ready to respond to that," Murray said. "We are not advising
people to
buy generators; we are not buying generators." Stephen F. Tomajczyk
of
Loudon, author of "101 Ways to Survive the Y2K Crisis," estimated
only five to
10 percent of the U.S. population is actually prepared for what may
happen.
"That leaves about 90 percent of the population that's put it off,"
he said.
"Most of the people I've talked to put it off because it's
summertime and they
just want to enjoy life. But there are another 200 million people in
the country
doing the same thing. We're going to be seeing a lot of people doing
it in the fall."

By then, he said, there may be shortages of some critical items.
Already, he's
talked with one New Hampshire firewood dealer who has gotten calls
from as
far away as Boston and has begun charging $200 to $250 a cord.
Tomajczyk cautions people not to panic about the Y2K bug. Instead,
he
advises people to follow the federal government's own poorly
publicized
recommendations for readiness.
The key item to have on hand is seven day's worth of food and
water, he said.
"The easiest way to go about doing that is simply to make up a menu
for your
family, sitting everyone down and finding out what people's tastes
are. The idea
is to buy what you are going to eat."
That way, if the bug goes bust, you haven't lost anything. "If
nothing happens,
then one, you're prepared for a natural disaster, or two, have a
party, or three,
give it away to charity and take a deduction. There are no negative
drawbacks,"
Tomajczyk said.
He said now is a good time to shop for sales on items that will
keep, canned
goods such as ham, tuna and vegetables.
Tomajczyk has heard the federal government plans a publicity
campaign this fall
about preparing for Y2K. "They've been focusing so much on whether or
not the
computers were ready that they forgot to tell the public to get
ready," he said.
"Everyone does anticipate problems; they just don't know how serious
and how
long."
His book is filled with practical advice about protecting your
house, family,
pets, property, investments, finances and supplies. Among his
suggestions: Make
sure you have adequate supplies of all medications; make sure you
have a way to
stay warm; get copies of your credit report, financial records, and
Social
Security earnings and benefits statement; keep credit card receipts;
back up all
computer data files on disk and make hard copies of crucial accounts.
"Y2K isn't necessarily about computers stopping," Tomajczyk said.
"It's about
their ability to perform correctly, and they may end up spewing out
incorrect data
about you. You need to have hard copies; they're not just going to
take your
word for it."
Tomajczyk said it's none too early to get prepared for whatever may
happen.
"For people who start preparing in September, I think they're going
to be pretty
surprised by how backlogged everything is," he said.

Exactly five months from today, New Hampshire will wake up to find
out whether all those predictions of doom collectively summed up as
the "Y2K Bug" have come to pass, or were nothing more than a kind of
mass paranoia.
Plenty of Granite Staters apparently are taking the Y2K threat
seriously. Retailers report doing a brisk business this summer in
commodities that will become precious as gold should skeptics' worst
fears come to pass.

Generators, flashlights, batteries, woodstoves, bottled water and
ready-to-eat food items are already among some of the hottest-selling
items, and most predict sales will pick up even more this fall.
Heather Makere, owner of Mickey Finn's Army/Navy in Manchester, is
having a special banner made, designating her store as "Y2K
Headquarters," to attract customers. "I don't mean to take advantage
of people's fears, I guess, but I'd be a fool not to do this, because
people are looking for this stuff," she said.
Makere already has had numerous customers stocking up, most buying
freeze-dried food, flashlights, sleeping bags, even military chemical
suits.

"It looks like a camouflage jacket and pants, but they are treated on
the inside," she explained. "That's what you would wear in case of a
gas attack, but these are also really warm and they're cheap, and
that's what people are buying them for."
Shane Duquette, manager at Abundant Life in Chichester, said
woodstove manufacturers report sales this year are up 200 percent
"right across the U.S."
He said woodstove sales at his store have been "cranking" even
during these normally slow summer months. "Usually we're sitting
around here twiddling our thumbs, but this year it's been pretty
steady."

Duquette said Y2K is only part of it; also contributing to it are the
violent storms New Hampshire has experienced recently that have left
many without power. "I think it's part Y2K and part the weird weather
we've been having up here," he said.
Whatever the cause, Duquette isn't complaining. "I think this is
going to be a good year for the woodstove and wood companies."
It's also a super year for anyone selling generators. Several big
retailers are selling out stock as quickly as they can get them in.
Nault's Honda in Manchester has been selling on average seven
generators a week, according to Paul Nault, the son of owner Dick
Nault.

Like Duquette, Nault believes there's more to the "phenomenal" sales
than simply Y2K fears. "It has a lot to do with the storms we've had
this summer, the wind storms we've had, the thunderstorms, people
losing their power. And I'm sure Y2K has contributed to it," he said.
Nault planned ahead in anticipation of Y2K sales, and expects to
have plenty of generators for its customers. "I placed my order a
year and a half ago," he said.
The company will hold a Generator Open House on Oct. 23, and he
anticipates a lot of business that day. He's already fielding about
30 calls a day, and has decided to videotape his own home's generator
setup to save himself having to explain the same thing over and over
to customers. "That's how many people are coming in," he said.

Most homeowners want to keep their well pump, heating system,
refrigerator and freezer, and other key appliances going in the event
of a power outage, Nault said. His company sells Honda generators
priced from $1,200 to $2,700, depending on how much power is needed.
Using a generator to power a home's electrical circuits isn't as
simple as buying one and plugging it in somewhere. Homeowners also
will need something called a "transfer switch box," Nault explained,
which needs to be installed by a licensed electrician.
"That way it won't overload your circuit panel, and won't overload
your generator, and most importantly, it won't hurt any linemen that
are up there on the pole," he said.
Indeed, local power companies want to know about it if any of their
customers have generators. Public Service Company of New Hampshire's
website (www.psnh.com) has special instructions about safe
installation of generators; you can also call PSNH at 634-2312.

But Martin Murray, spokesman for PSNH, said the power company is not
recommending people purchase generators. "One of our observations,
and indeed our concerns, would be that people may do things because
of their fear of Y2K that are really unnecessary."
"What we are advising customers is that they should treat next New
Year's Eve and Y2K as they do any day of the year," he said. And that
means being prepared as they would for any New England winter, he
said.
"We have ice storms, we have snowstorms, or sometimes a vehicle
accident that could knock power out. We advise people every storm
season it's a smart move to have extra batteries on hand, and a
supply of water on hand."

"We don't expect any power outages associated with Y2K, but if there
are any, we'll be ready to respond to that," Murray said. "We are not
advising people to buy generators; we are not buying generators."
Stephen F. Tomajczyk of Loudon, author of "101 Ways to Survive the
Y2K Crisis," estimated only five to 10 percent of the U.S. population
is actually prepared for what may happen. "That leaves about 90
percent of the population that's put it off," he said.
"Most of the people I've talked to put it off because it's
summertime and they just want to enjoy life. But there are another
200 million people in the country doing the same thing. We're going
to be seeing a lot of people doing it in the fall."
By then, he said, there may be shortages of some critical items.
Already, he's talked with one New Hampshire firewood dealer who has
gotten calls from as far away as Boston and has begun charging $200
to $250 a cord.

Tomajczyk cautions people not to panic about the Y2K bug. Instead, he
advises people to follow the federal government's own poorly
publicized recommendations for readiness.
The key item to have on hand is seven day's worth of food and
water, he said. "The easiest way to go about doing that is simply to
make up a menu for your family, sitting everyone down and finding out
what people's tastes are. The idea is to buy what you are going to
eat."
That way, if the bug goes bust, you haven't lost anything. "If
nothing happens, then one, you're prepared for a natural disaster, or
two, have a party, or three, give it away to charity and take a
deduction. There are no negative drawbacks," Tomajczyk said.
He said now is a good time to shop for sales on items that will
keep, canned goods such as ham, tuna and vegetables.

Tomajczyk has heard the federal government plans a publicity campaign
this fall about preparing for Y2K. "They've been focusing so much on
whether or not the computers were ready that they forgot to tell the
public to get ready," he said. "Everyone does anticipate problems;
they just don't know how serious and how long."
His book is filled with practical advice about protecting your
house, family, pets, property, investments, finances and supplies.
Among his suggestions: Make sure you have adequate supplies of all
medications; make sure you have a way to stay warm; get copies of
your credit report, financial records, and Social Security earnings
and benefits statement; keep credit card receipts; back up all
computer data files on disk and make hard copies of crucial accounts.

"Y2K isn't necessarily about computers stopping," Tomajczyk said.
"It's about their ability to perform correctly, and they may end up
spewing out incorrect data about you. You need to have hard copies;
they're not just going to take your word for it."
Tomajczyk said it's none too early to get prepared for whatever may
happen. "For people who start preparing in September, I think they're
going to be pretty surprised by how backlogged everything is," he
said.